Drying apparatus



Sept. 4; 19235.

o. ZIMMERMANN DRYING APPARATUS Filed March 28 Patented Sept. 4, 1923.

unir i fr DRYIN'G-y APPARATUS.

Application filed MarchQSS, 1921. Serial No. 456,201.

To all whom t may concern.:

Be it known that I, OTTO ZIMMERMANN, a citizen of the Republic of Germany, residing at Ludwigshafen-ontheRhine, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drying Apparatus (for which I have filed applications in Germany March 8th, 1918, and August 2nd, 1919, in Austria, August 15th, 1919, in Hungary, April 4th, 1918, and in Great Britain March 10th, 1920), of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an apparatus for drying potatoes, lturnips, grain, fruit, mushrooms, fodder, kitchen and slaughter-house waste, fish, mussels, as well as textiles', brown-coal, peat, chemical products and the like by means of air heated throughthe medium of steam Or combustion gases and forced through the drying chambers by means of a fan or the like.

The object of the invention is to produce a drying apparatus which can easily be fitted up 1n any existing building, and the invention consists .in the provision of two drying chambers arranged at opposite sides of two parallel Hues which communicate at one end with a heat source and at the other end with a chimney, means being provided for working the chambers eitherpartly or together and for reversing the direction in which the air passes through the drying floors.

Fig. 1 of the drawings represents a diagrammatic front view of the apparatus,

Fig. 2, a heat source and the fan, and

Fig. 3, a side view including the fan. The air may be heated by means of a coke oven 21 and forced by a fan 22 into a pipe 23 communicating with two parallel Hues 24 and 247. A door a can be adjusted for cutting Off the communication with either of the two Hues. Two drying chambers 25 and 26 are arranged one at each side of the Hues. The Hue 24 communicates with the lower part of the drying chamber 25, and the Hue 27, with the lower part of the chamber 26. The drying chambers contain drying Hoors 30 and are covered by a superstructure 29 which is preferably made of wood and which may be comparatively higher than shown in the drawings. The chambers are supported on planks 31. 28 is a chimney Hue which contains a flap a7 wherewith its communication with the suplan of the same including the perstructure can be interrupted'. A door e shuts off the communication of the chimney flue with either of the Hues 24 or 27,-and Haps b and c enable the superstructure to; be set into communication either with one another or with the Hue 28.`

The working of the apparatus may be carried out in the following manner (a) The air oanbe led from the Hue 23 into the chamber 25 and thence into the superstructure and past Haps o and d into the chimney, the Hap a being closed against the Hue 27, the flap c, against the Hue 24, and the flap c against the right-hand part of the superstructure. Thus the dryingcan be commenced in the chamber 25 while the chamber 26 is being emptied and refilled.

(b) The chamber 26 having been refilled,

the Hap a? can be closed against the superstructure, and the Hap c opened so that the air, having passed upwards through the materials in the chamber 25, is led into the right-hand part of the superstructure whence it passesdownwards through the materials' in this chamber .and is discharged throughy the Hue 27 into the chimney, v

(c) When the materials in the chamber 25l are dry, the flaps a and e are reversed for shutting off the hot air from this chamber and leading it upwards through the chamber 26 into the chimney flue, the Hap d being reopened and the Hap ZJ closed.` Y

(d) The chamber 25 having been cleared and refilled, the hot air from the chamber 26 isled through the superstructure and downwards through the wet materials in the chamber 25 whence it passes into the chimney. f

From this procedure it follows that each fresh charge is Hrst exposed to a current of slightly moist air coming from the neighbouring chamber and passing through the materials in' a downward direction. After this preliminary drying, the process is continued and finished by dry hot air passing upwards through the materials. Owing to this reversal of the current, a turning over of the materials will in most cases be Obviated. An important advantage of the arrangement is the continuous working, there heating being no need for interrupting the or for wasting the heat. The air passing finally through a fresh wet charge of materials, it will be completely saturated, and the' heat will be utilized to the full extent. A further advantage is that the saturated loo air can be discharged into the chimney without Corning into AContact with any other working chamber.

A. drying apparatus of the Character described, comprising` the combination with a heat source of two parallel lues communicating at one end with Said heat Source, a chimney communicating with the opposite end ot' the lues, two drying` chambers arranged at opposite sides ot' the fines, drying floors arranged in said chambers, the space below the drying floors of both chambers being in communication with the adjacent flue, a superstructure covering the two chambers and Communicating therewith, means for setting the two parts of the Superstructure in communication either with one another or with the chimney, means for interrupting the communication of either flue with the heat source7 and means for interrupting the communication of either flue with the chimney, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

DR. OTTO ZIMMERMANN. 

